


I Think I've Seen This Film Before (So I'm leavin' out the side door)

by Wake_The_Dragon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drama & Romance, F/M, Good Pansy Parkinson, Good Slytherins, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Loss of Powers, Marriage Contracts, Marriage Contracts Ruin The Party Again, Multi, Protective Siblings, Redeemed Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29036091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wake_The_Dragon/pseuds/Wake_The_Dragon
Summary: "Maybe this is why Slytherins shouldn't try and be noble. We're just not good at it."Harry and Daphne were meant to be married due to a contract; she let him go and dealt with the consequences on her own. Five years later, he learned what those consequences were and is determined to help her.
Relationships: Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson/Ron Weasley, past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley - Relationship
Comments: 25
Kudos: 89





	1. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Harry Potter. All characters belong to JK Rowling. The title is taken from the song "Exile" by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver.

**8th May, 1998:**

“The contract is quite clear, Mr. Potter: you and Daphne must marry,” Agamemnon Greengrass said in a tone so smug it made Harry want to deck him. He gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in instead, seething but trying to reign in his temper; the other wizard leaned back in his own chair, staring him down from behind his desk. Beside Harry sat Daphne herself, but she was staring intently at the wall behind her father, making no move to speak to look at Harry.

Harry regretted responding to the message given to him by a nervous house-elf and regretted even more that he agreed to have this meeting at the Greengrass Estate in Cheshire. Mr. Greengrass had the home turf advantage here, a fact he obviously relished as he dropped this bombshell on Harry and even his own daughter.

(Harry had seen the way Daphne’s face twisted in rage before going blank. He’d bet all the gold in his vault that this was news to her as much as it was to him.)

However, if Mr. Greengrass could think he could just lay the law down like this and Harry would roll over then he had another thing coming. Agamemnon Greengrass was tall and blonde, in contrast to his daughter’s brown hair, and his blue eyes held absolutely no warmth in them; objectively, he should have been handsome, but the sheer arrogance in his features and stance prevented that. Some might have found him intimidating but Harry had faced down Voldemort and this bloke just pissed him off.

Harry leaned forward in his own chair and looked the man in the eye. “I’m going to make this very clear: I will never marry your daughter.”

“No offense taken,” drawled the witch herself, the first time she’d spoken since the meeting had started. Despite himself, Harry snorted in laughter and glanced to his side to see a flash of bitter amusement flicker on her face before vanishing.

Mr. Greengrass briefly shot his daughter an unimpressed look before returning his gaze to Harry. “Mr. Potter,” he started cooly, “I will do you a favor by overlooking this rather childish knee jerk reaction. Read the contract yourself. If you are still fine with all the possible consequences, then and only then will I accept your denial.” He opened his drawer and took out another copy of the contract he’d had on his desk; he held it out and Harry yanked it out of his hands, enjoying the obvious irritation the action caused.

“That’s unnecessary. The answer is still going to be no.”

“We’ll see,” Agamemnon said as he stood.

Harry decided to let the man think he’d gotten the last word for now because he was going to be in for a world of disappointment later. He ignored Greengrass herself attempting to catch his eye and stalked out of the office, nearly barreling into a witch lingering outside the door. She looked to be around his age, had brown hair similar to Daphne as well as the blue eyes he was starting to think of as Greengrass blue. “Sorry,” she squeaked out, pale face turning pink, before getting out of his way.

* * *

**10th May, 1998:**

Was it so selfish of him to want to choose his own destiny? Since he had learned he was a wizard, he had consistently chosen to do what was right or expected of him. He, Hermione and Ron had run off to protect the Philosopher's Stone in their first year, bringing him face to face with Voldemort. After that he had faced a basilisk, an escaped fugitive who turned out to be his godfather and innocent, an international tournament and Voldemort’s return. He had lost his godfather, had fought a war, and destroyed Horcruxes.

He had let himself be killed to stop Voldemort. Yes, he came back, but he hadn’t known that when he’d gone to sacrifice himself.

And this was how the Wizarding World was going to repay him? A forced marriage to a girl he didn’t even like because their great grandfathers had decided this was a good idea? Screw that. Harry was determined to fight it and Mr. Weasley was searching for a contract expert to help him; Hermione was also researching the subject out of support. He was grateful for both of them because the most he’d understood of it so far was that it was requiring the eldest Greengrass son or daughter to marry the eldest Potter son or daughter. However, Ron, Ginny, and Neville’s reactions hadn’t left him hopeful: all of three of them had looked at him as if he had announced he’d been diagnosed with some incurable illness.

(He and Ginny had talked that night as they lay in bed together. “I won’t be the other woman. I refuse,” she had told him, eyes absolutely heartbroken looking. “I love you Harry, I do. But if this can’t be broken, if you have to marry her-“

“I’m never going to marry Daphne Greengrass,” he had insisted, his green eyes flashing. He pulled her into his arms but it didn’t comfort her like he thought it would.

Instead, she had given a watery laugh and shook her head. “Harry, you don’t understand. You didn’t grow up hearing the horror stories these kinds of deals can cause. People have dropped dead because of this kind of thing.”

“How is this legal?” he asked. Something like an Unbreakable Vow was one thing, because the person entering that kind of agreement was doing it out of their own free will and accepted the consequences. (Barring incidents like Fred trying to get Ron to make one as kids.) Even the Goblet of Fire was only supposed to form a contract with willing volunteers, except for the time a Death Eater disguised as one of his professors confounded the Goblet into choosing him. (And that was just one incident that left him with a hatred of being forced into things against his will for magical reasons.) But drafting up a contract for people the writers couldn’t even know would be born that had to be fulfilled under pain of death?

That was fucking bullshite.

“I don’t know because some witches and wizards can be shitty and vindictive? This sort of thing isn’t allowed anymore, not for almost a century.“

“Then how-“

“If it was created before the ban,” she had cut him off, “then it’s possible it’s still in effect.”

“Ginny, I’m going to fight this with everything I can. I don’t want to give you up now that we have time to be together.” He kissed her on the temple and said softly, “I love you.”)

They might have already decided he was fighting a lost cause, but he wasn’t giving up. Outside of the future he wanted to explore with Ginny, he was just not going to roll over and take something some Lucius Malfoy type was trying to force on him. He also had no interest in shackling himself to one of the Slytherins; Daphne Greengrass had never gone after other students the way her friends had, but she hadn’t done anything to help either. One of said friends was Parkinson, which was another mark against her. In school, she’d certainly given off the impression of being as arrogant as the other members of her house, or at least enough of an impression that he’d never been tempted to really talk to her.

(Now that he’d met her father, he could see where she got it from.)

Given what he could perceive of her personality and the way he’d stormed out of her home, he’d have thought she’d ignore him. Instead, one morning at the Burrow, he woke up to a glossy black owl pecking at the window, a letter from Greengrass strapped to its leg. It had been an invitation to meet and he considered just saying no, but her letter had been polite enough and she was as much a victim of this as he was. Harry had to remind himself of that last part at least twice more before apparating close to the meeting spot in Diagon Alley. He walked into a restaurant he’d never eaten in before and was led into a private room; she was already sitting down at a table, back to the wall and watching as he walked over.

The room had low lighting and the candles on the table made it look like they were on some sort of date. His mouth had turned down into a frown and she sighed; as soon as the server had left, she said without a greeting, “I didn’t ask them for this. I just wanted a private room so we could talk.” Her expression was a little sheepish which surprised him given how used he was to her haughty distance.

Despite her wish to talk, she fell silent as he took the seat across from her and he took a minute to study her. Instead of robes, she was dressed in muggle clothes: a blue top, black skirt and boots. Her posture was tense and expression guarded and Harry got the idea that she’d rather be anywhere else than having this conversation with him. He decided to break the sudden quiet himself by asking, “Did you know about the contract before your father told me?”

Her blue eyes turned stormy. “No.” (So he had been right before.) “I can’t say I’m surprised that he would spring it on me along with you. Father doesn’t so much talk _to_ me as he talks _at_ me.”

His eyebrows rose. “Not very close with your father then?”

“No,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Before you ask, I’m not close to my mother either. My sister is the one I’m actually close to.” Her tone of voice had been almost dismissive when talking about her parents but it turned much warmer when she mentioned her sister.

Harry racked his brain to see if he could come up with a first name or a face for Greengrass’ sister but all he could really think of was the girl he’d nearly knocked down the other day. “Was your sister that girl standing outside your father’s office?”

She actually laughed. “Yeah, that was Astoria. This might surprise you, but she’s a little nosey.”

He took a sip of water before asking, “Is she in Slytherin like you?”

She shook her head. “Tori’s a Ravenclaw. She’s the one who suggested I invite you to lunch so we could try and talk things out.”

He opened his mouth to say something but the server had returned by then; they both ordered something to eat and Harry waited for the man to leave the room before speaking again. “Look Greengrass, I don’t want to waste your time or mine here, so let me make this clear: there’s nothing you can say, that will change my mind. I’m not going to marry you.”

“You’re not my first choice either,” she snapped back. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and Harry got the impression of her counting to ten. Taking a breath, she leaned forward and said, “Potter, I know I’m not the most….I’ve been a….you have no reason to like or trust me. My housemates have been cruel to you. Some of my own friends have been horrible to you. And I never said anything. I am sorry.”

His first reaction was that she was just saying that to manipulate him, but he noticed some little things that made him think it was more sincere: the pauses and struggling with words, and the way she kept eye contact with him through it. He nodded and she continued, “I’m a selfish person, I can admit that, but I’m not interested in forcing myself on someone who truly doesn’t want me. All I’m asking is can you just try and get to know me? I know you’re dating Weasley and you can keep doing that. I won’t mind-“

“But I’d mind,” he said flatly. “And so would Ginny. And you should mind. Why would you want to settle for being second best?”

Her mouth twisted at the second best comment. “Of course I don’t want to be a consolation prize, but we don’t always get what we want. This type of contract isn’t used anymore, but I was never expecting to marry for love.” He started at her and she clarified, “Usually, I’d be allowed some choice but my parents would have expected me to marry someone they’d approve of at the end of the day.”

“And you’re fine with that?” He was having trouble wrapping his head around that; he might not have been the most experienced with love, but he knew he wanted the kind of love his parents had. She looked down but didn’t say anything and he decided to change tactics. “But there has to be some way to break it. Some sort of loophole.” Her mouth had gone into a thin line as he spoke and he narrowed his eyes at her. “Have you read it?”

“I’ve read some of it. Father is being difficult about it.” He was hating her father more and more and he felt a stab of sympathy for her having to deal with the man all the time.

“And you don’t think it can be broken?” She shook her head and his right hand clenched into a fist. “No, I don’t believe that. There has to be something. No one’s perfect; they couldn’t have possibly covered everything that someone could do.” She looked down at the table again and he asked, “Is this the type of contract that will kill one of us if we don’t go through with it?” Like an Unbreakable Vow or that damned Goblet. 

The ghost of a smile flickered on her face. “No, neither of us will die. Like I said I haven’t gotten the chance to read the entire thing by myself yet, though father made the consequences sound dire. But I can try and see if there’s anything I can do.”

“Thank you, Greengrass.” The relief in his voice was palpable.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t worry, Potter. I’ll do my best to save you from the terrible fate of being stuck with me.”

He winced at the sarcasm in her voice. “Greengrass, it’s really not you. It’s-“

She laughed shortly, “Please, do not give me the whole ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech. I wouldn’t believe you if you did.”

Harry breathed out. “Okay. You’re right. Based on what I know about you, I wouldn’t want to date you at all. Even if I wasn’t already with Ginny.” She clapped a hand over her heart, a mock expression of hurt on her face, and he rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ve sacrificed enough since learning I was a wizard. I fought Voldemort-“

She flinched at the name, but said nothing.

“And I’m not sacrificing my future because of a contract written long before either of us were born.” He had literally died to save everyone, did that not earn him some kind of break from the universe? “I don’t know if Ginny and I will last but I love her and I want to give it a shot. Even if we break up, I want to be with someone I love.”

“And you don’t think you could love me,” she said quietly. It wasn’t a question.

His expression softened. “How can you love someone who forces you to be with them?”

She closed her eyes for a moment before re-opening them, a look of determination in them now. “I’ll look into it and let you know. I won’t force you to be with me.”

Their lunch arrived after that and while he attempted to make small talk, her mind was obviously far away. They lapsed into silence for the rest of the meal, and she looked withdrawn by the time she said goodbye, but somehow she must have gotten through to her father because a few days later he received a letter from the man. This time it was short, letting him know that the wedding wouldn’t happen.

It was followed an hour later by a letter delivered by the black owl she’d sent him before. This time the bird shot him a disparaging look and flew off as soon as Harry had removed the letter. It was just one line: Good luck, Potter. He wrote back a thank you to her but she never responded.

He let Mr. Weasley know that everything was fine now and put the contract away in his vault. He kept dating Ginny, started training for the Aurors, and never expected to see Daphne Greengrass again.

And he didn’t for five years.

* * *

**25th April, 2003:**

“Come on, Harry!”

Harry followed his friends into the muggle pub, nothing on his mind other than just enjoying the start of his weekend. Neville had gotten a booth, his spirits obviously still high from his successful proposal to Luna; Ron sat across from him and Seamus and Dean followed suit leaving Harry as the only one standing.

“I’ll go order,” he said before walking over to the bar.

He was more relaxed than he would be at the Leaky Cauldron or any other wizarding owned establishments since his chances of being recognized were non-existent. He leaned against the bar and waited for the bartender to get to him, not paying any real attention until he heard a crisp, distantly familiar voice: “What can I get you?”

He glanced up hurriedly into the beautiful, smiling face of his could-have-been wife. His brain felt like it was short circuiting for a moment as it tried to process a pureblood princess like Greengrass working in a muggle bar of all places. She was dressed simply in a black tee-shirt and tight, dark jeans and her hair was down. Without thinking, he blurted out, “Daphne Greengrass?”

The smile on her lips died as her eyes found the scar on his forehead. “Oh. Fancy meeting you here, Potter.”

He was staring now, and couldn’t make himself stop. “You work here?”

“No, I just walked in, saw no one behind the bar, and decided to help myself.” The sarcasm was so thick he could have cut it with a knife. She smiled thinly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Now, what can I get you?”

He managed to order two pitchers of beer and watched as she filled them for him. “Why are you working here?”

She scrunched her nose and he shouldn't have found it as cute as he did. “Wow, you’ve really become a snob, Potter. What’s wrong with being a bartender? Or is serving drinks somehow a waste of my endless potential?”

“I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.” He leaned in more over the bar and lowered his voice to a near whisper, “Why are you working here? In a muggle bar?”

She arched an eyebrow at him. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Potter. Here are your drinks.” She placed the now full pitchers down on the bar and at her expectant look he reached into his jeans for his wallet and paid her. Her eyes glanced down at his hands as she took the money and she commented, “No wedding ring. Are you and Weasley still together?”

“No,” he answered shortly as he waited for his change.

“Aw. You crazy kids couldn’t make it work after all?”

He and Ginny had dated for almost three years when things had started breaking down between them,and they decided it was better to break up before they started hating each other. “No,” he said flatly.

The corners of her mouth lifted into a smirk. “Too bad. I was really rooting for you two.”

He refused to rise to that bait; he took his change from her and intended to walk away, but there was a mystery here and it intrigued him. So instead of walking off with the drinks, he asked first, “The five year anniversary is coming up.” Her mouth tightened and he knew he didn’t have to confirm it was the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts for her. “Are you going to be at the reunion?”

Hogwarts was hosting both an awards ceremony honoring those who fought in the battle and a reunion party afterwards. Everyone who’d been at Hogwarts that year (and was still alive) had been invited.

She smiled wryly at him, but again it didn’t reach her eyes. “No, I’m afraid I have other plans. Maybe I’ll catch the ten year one. See you around, Potter.”

There was something very off here, but he wasn’t sure what. This wasn’t any of his business, she wasn’t even his friend, but there was a mystery here and he felt compelled to look into it. His gut was telling him to look into it, and his gut had been right before in the past.

“See you around, Greengrass,” he said, flashing her a grin. She frowned at him, maybe she sensed he wasn’t going to let this go, but he walked away before she could say anything.

* * *

**2nd May, 2003:**

Harry couldn’t recall having an actual conversation with Astoria Malfoy once in his life.

This fact was only relevant because of the strong impression he got that she _hated_ him.

“If looks could kill,” Hermione had muttered to him under her breath. Oh good, that meant it wasn’t just all in his head. He sat between his two best friends in the world in the front row; nearest to them were Neville, Luna and Ginny. The rows directly following them consisted of the surviving members of the DA or the relatives of those who hadn’t lived through the battle. The rest of the audience was made up of the other students at Hogwarts, some of whom were also being honored.

He had no idea what some of them were doing here, considering he’d think Draco Malfoy and anyone related to him wouldn't have shown up. And yet Malfoy and his wife were sitting in the crowd and said wife had given Harry a death stare when he’d accidentally caught her eye.

It left him very taken aback.

He and Draco were not friends, but he had accepted that Malfoy had changed for the better since the war. Malfoy and Parkinson had apparently been behind some charities that went to alleviate damages from the war and one in particular had been implemented more recently to work on de-radicalizing children and teenagers raised on pureblood supremacy. Outside of generally agreeing with what they were doing, he left Malfoy and his old friends alone and vice versa. So this couldn’t have been a recent thing and the only time he recalled meeting her was that one day at the Greengrass estate, but that interaction had barely lasted five seconds.

“I have no idea what her problem is,” he whispered back to Hermione.

Ron, not caring for subtlety in the slightest, craned his neck to look back at her before shrugging. “Just ignore her, mate. Maybe her face just always looks like that.”

Harry coughed to mask his sudden laugh while even Hermione had to hide a smile with her hand. He wasn’t given much more time to think on it before Minister Shaklebolt and Headmistress McGonagall were starting the ceremony. On the bright side, he and his friends were the first to be given their awards so the attention solely on them was over quickly, but that meant they had to sit through the rest of the ceremony.

The DA were next as were members of the Order, such as Fleur and the Weasley’s and even Andromeda had been able to come with Teddy to accept awards on behalf of Lupin and Tonks. He clapped for all of them and had waved at an excited Teddy as his godson and Andy walked back to their seats. Then it was time to honor the other students who had participated and McGonagall made a particular note that former members of Slytherin house who had helped Hogwarts would be recognized.

Harry was still startled when McGonagall announced: “Daphne Greengrass, whose award is being accepted on her behalf by her sister, Astoria Malfoy.” It took him a second longer than everyone else to start clapping, but he was barely paying attention. His gaze was drawn to Astoria as she walked confidently up the front, her expression a combination of pride and sadness. If she felt him starting at her, she ignored him completely.

He hadn’t seen Daphne Greengrass for five years and now not only had he run into her in a muggle bar, but he was finding out that she fought for Hogwarts and had blown off getting recognized for it. Oh and her little sister hated him for reasons that were currently unclear.

This was raising so many questions and he was going to get at least one answer that night at the party. After the ceremony, he had taken time to talk to Andromeda and Teddy, scooping his laughing godson up in his arms, before they had to leave. He went back to the party to look for his friends, and nearly collided with Astoria Malfoy who had been walking in the opposite direction of the party on the grounds. Her lip curled in distaste, which he chose to ignore.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized and got a curt response from her. She moved to walk around him when he said, “Wait. Can I please speak to you?”

“I don’t know. Can you?” Her voice was almost sickly sweet in her reply to him.

_Brat._

He counted to five in his head before trying again, “Please. May I speak to you?” Alright, there might have been more than a little sarcasm on the word ‘may’ but he was only human.

Cold blue eyes regarded him for a moment. “I am going for a walk. You can follow me, if you really want to. If you talk to me, maybe I’ll talk back. That’s as close to a yes as you’ll get.” She turned on her heel and started walking away from him without another word. He clenched his teeth in response, so hard it almost hurt, but in seconds he was walking side by side with her.

If she thought she could put him off just by being rude, she had no idea what he was like.

“I ran into your sister last week,” he started off conversationally.

Her shoulders tensed noticeably. “Did you?”

“I can’t say bartender was what I expected, but then again I don’t really know what I expected.” He was watching Astoria out of the corner of his eye. Her face looked deliberately blank, but she was clenching her jaw. This was a sore subject for her then. “She told me she couldn’t make it here today, but left out the little detail that she was up for an award.”

She did not look at him, her face was kept forward the entire time, but she was clenching her jaw harder. “Potter, is there a point to this soliloquy?” She asked, voice dripping in condescension.

“You really hate me, don’t you,” he replied instead, frowning.

She sighed out. “How can I hate you? I don’t know you.”

“See you say that, but you’ve been either glaring at me or being rude to me this whole time. I don’t know what I did to-“

“You didn’t do _anything_. That’s the problem.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She stopped suddenly and he walked a few steps ahead of her before realizing she wasn’t continuing. She was glaring at him again, though this time there was a noticeably watery sheen to her eyes. “What did you think my sister had to do to break the contract?”

His stomach clenched uncomfortably. “I thought she must have found some loophole.”

“I wish,” she muttered, blinking back against tears. “My sister had to give up a part of herself in order to break the contract.”

He felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. “What.”

A few angry tears leaked from her eyes. “Her magic, Potter. It was sealed inside her, so she can’t use it.”


	2. I Love My Sister More Than Anything In This Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Maybe this is why Slytherins shouldn't try and be noble. We're just not good at it."
> 
> Harry and Daphne were meant to be married due to a contract; she let him go and dealt with the consequences on her own. Five years later, he learned what those consequences were and is determined to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Harry Potter. The title of the fic comes from “Exile” by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver.
> 
> I made some edits to the first two chapters; I had failed to mention the Goblet and had wanted to clear up Harry's thought process in the time after the marriage contract was broken. Thank you to the reviewers on FFN who pointed this out.

**12th May, 1998:**

Astoria knew that Daphne wasn’t going to like what she was about to do, but that was too damn bad. She was scared out of her mind over something Daph was likely to do, so much so that Astoria had barely slept last night.

Most of yesterday had been tense for a reason she wasn’t told until late that night. First, Daphne had holed herself up in father’s office, presumably to read through the marriage contract, then father had joined her and after another hour so had maman. That last fact had left Astoria just staring at the locked door for a good thirty seconds.

Their parents were in the same room...together...apparently willingly?

Oh, that was so not good.

Astoria had tried to hear through the door, had tried a few listening charms even, but one of them had remembered to put up rather strong privacy wards. (Most likely father. He’d not been pleased when she’d gotten caught eavesdropping on them the other day.) They had been in there for almost two hours before Daphne practically ran out of the house after, ignoring any attempts at talking to her all the while.

Maman exited not longer after, looking paler than usual, but she attempted to smile when she saw Astoria. “It will be fine, Astoria. Your sister is just a bit emotional right now, but she’s a practical girl. She’ll see reason once she calms down.” Her tone of voice was mostly confident, but there was a noticeable tremble underneath it. Was she trying to convince Astoria or herself? Father had stayed in his office for another few hours, but even if he hadn’t she doubted she’d get any useful information out of him.

Daphne didn’t come back until after dinner and had gone up to her room as soon as she was home. Astoria had resigned herself to giving Daphne a day to brood when Daph herself knocked on her door at around midnight. “Tori, you awake?”

“Yeah,” she answered absentmindedly, looking up from the sketch she’d been working on. Daphne leaned against the doorway, wearing an old Spellbound concert shirt and blue pajama shorts with little hippogriffs dotted on them. She was smiling, but she was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

“I couldn’t sleep and was going to sneak down to the kitchen for some ice cream. Do you want to come with me?” Astoria blinked. This was the kind of thing she and Daphne did as little kids, usually after their parents had a particularly ugly argument and she’d been crying. Of course, Daph being Daph usually tried to go without her so only she’d get in trouble if she got caught, but she’d just sneak after her sister instead of waiting for Daphne to bring the ice cream back upstairs. (Daph always acted annoyed about it, but she’d been happy. Astoria could tell even back then.)

But why now?

Daphne’s smile faltered and Astoria realized she’d been quiet too long. “Nevermind. It was a childish idea. Good ni-“

“No! I was just surprised. I’m always good for ice cream,” she answered hurriedly, and was very relieved when Daphne smiled brightly. She pulled a robe on over her nightgown and followed after her sister, but she felt oddly nervous. She just had a lingering sense of something being wrong, though she didn’t find out what until they were downstairs.

Daphne had stayed quiet when they had first started eating but finally she glanced up and said, “I need to tell you something.” She pushed away the bowl in front of her and turned to face Astoria directly. The seriousness in her sister’s expression made her edgy. It reminded her too much of the determined expression Daphne got before she went back to Hogwarts after forcing Astoria back home on the night of the battle.

“I have to leave and I won’t be able to see you for a while. I don’t want to, and it’s not about you-“

“What are you talking about?!” The question had come out louder than intended and there was a real edge of anxiety in her voice. Daphne’s face softened and she might have tried to hug Astoria, if Astoria hadn’t moved back. “Where are you going and why? You-“

“I’m breaking the contract with Potter,” Daphne said, in an almost infuriatingly calm tone of voice. “My magic will be sealed.” It was starting to hurt to breathe. “Father said that I won’t be welcome here after. He won’t want you to see me again. Besides, I don’t know where I’m going yet and….please don’t cry, Tori.”

Astoria hadn’t even been aware of it but she had started crying while Daphne was talking. She rubbed at her eyes and wrenched her arm back when her sister reached out for her. “Don’t touch me!” Daph flinched, but didn’t try to hug her again. “You can’t do this!”

“Tori-“

Astoria shook her head and strode out of the kitchen, back up the stairs and to her room, locking the door behind her. She was crying and couldn’t stop, and curled up on her bed. In the hallway outside, she distantly heard footsteps stopping in front of her door. “I love you, Tori,” Daphne said, quietly. “I’m sorry.” The footsteps retreated after that, leaving her alone to her thoughts; said thoughts mostly revolved around trying to find a way to change her sister’s mind.

Which is how she ended up deciding to sneak out of her home and floo over to Parkinson Place. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Pansy was not Astoria’s favorite of her sister’s friends, but Pansy was Daphne’s oldest and best friend and the only person Astoria thought Daphne might listen to. They’d been friends for as long as Astoria could remember, except for a year starting from when Umbridge took over the school fully; Daphne and Pansy had a huge argument in their dorm room over Pansy joining the Inquisitorial Squad, according to Tracey, and then they didn’t speak for a year. Astoria had honestly thought they wouldn’t be friends again, until she came home one day during summer break to find Daphne comforting a sobbing Pansy. She never found out why, but they’d been friends again after.

So this was it, the last hope.

Parkinson Place was as silent as the grave when she stumbled out of the fireplace and Astoria rushed past a startled house-elf. “Miss Storia, Mistress Pansy-“

When had Pansy become mistress of the house? No, Astoria, focus.

“-isn’t awake. Let Dewey wake her and let her know you’re here.”

“No, I’m sorry, this is an emergency,” she called back as she started up the stairs. “And don’t punish yourself! This is my fault!” With that she took off running up the stairs to the second floor where Pansy’s room was.

Pansy herself groaned as Astoria threw the door open and glared up at her, bleary eyed. “What are you doing here? Get out!” Her voice sounded scratchy and she looked hungover, but Astoria didn’t care.

“Get up, I need your help,” she ordered and tried to grab one of Pansy’s arms to pull her up.

“Piss off, Little Greengrass. You can need my help at a decent time.” She turned on her side, showing Astoria her back, and Astoria grit her teeth before grabbing Pansy by the shoulder and shaking her. Pansy growled and turned over again to glare at her, though more clear eyed this time. “You have ten seconds to get out. Daph might baby you, but I’m not her-“

“It’s about Daphne!” She was yelling now and Pansy thankfully shut her mouth, though whether that was from being told Daphne needed help or that Astoria dared to yell at her was anyone’s guess. “She and Potter had a marriage contract-“

“No one does that anymore,” groaned Pansy.

“-and Potter doesn’t want to marry her! She doesn’t want to marry him against his will. So she is going to break it, but if she does then her magic is going to be sealed!”

“....are you serious?” asked Pansy, though she at least was sitting up now.

“I need you to talk to her! She’s already talking about giving up her magic and leaving-“

“The hell she is,” Pansy interrupted, finally getting up. Astoria was a ball of nerves as Pansy dressed and downed a hangover potion brought to her by Dewey. She grabbed her wand and then Astoria’s arm and Astoria felt as if she was being pushed through a tube, before the ground became solid beneath her again and she saw she was at her home’s apparition point.

“You could have warned me,” she complained but Pansy ignored her and stalked towards the house, muttering the whole way. Astoria thought she heard some phrases clearly like, ‘swear to Merlin, this is such a stupid, Hufflepuff move’, and, ‘if I have to stun both of them and drag them down the aisle’. Finally, they were back in the house itself and Pansy stomped up the stairs.

Once they got to the right room, Pansy threw the door open and marched inside.Astoria lingered outside the door, rather than follow her in. Daph jerked awake when the door slammed against the wall and her wand was in hand within seconds but froze when she saw Pansy. “What-“

“Your sister told me you’ve gone crazy!”

Daphne blinked and slowly glanced from Pansy to Astoria. Her eyes were wide now and she sounded completely bewildered as she asked, “You told on me to Pansy?”

“Forget her,” growled Pansy. “Why didn’t I find out about any of this from you?! When was I going to find out? After you ruined your life?!”

Astoria took that as a cue to leave. They were up in her sister’s room for most of the morning and it was impossible to concentrate on anything else while waiting for one of them to come out. Finally, Pansy stormed out of the house and Astoria felt her heart sink.

* * *

**2nd May, 2003:**

The second the words came out of her mouth, Astoria knew Daphne was going to be mad at her. She couldn’t stop herself, five years of resentment towards Potter had risen to the surface and exploded, and he was the correct target. (Merlin, this was why she’d chosen to avoid him the last few years.)

Five years of resentment that he was living his life happily while Daphne had to build a new life from scratch. Resentment left over from the first two years when the only real contact she’d had with Daphne was when Draco apparated over with her during some Hogsmeade weekends. Resentment from today, over having to take Daphne’s place for the ceremony when it should have been her.

(And Astoria had tried to get her to go.

“I think you should go for the ceremony at least. You don’t have to stay for the party,” she’d said, sitting down next to Daphne on the couch. “I can go with you and we can get you in and out of there without anyone suspecting that your magic is sealed. Oh and Blaise will be there so-“

“Tori,” Daphne interrupted, sighing. “I don’t want to go back to Hogwarts now that I’m,” she cut herself off, swallowing. She took a breath and continued, “I can’t go back, Tori. I won’t. They can post the damn thing to me.”

Astoria just sighed, having sensed this wasn’t an argument she could win. “I can accept it for you, if you want.” It just seemed wrong to her to have no one there to represent her sister.

“I mean if you don’t mind. Thank you.” She sounded like she didn’t think it was a big deal, but she’d been smiling.)

Thinking about it like that, a confrontation like this was always inevitable. When she finally told him, his head jerked back, almost as if she’d actually slapped him. It made her feel oddly satisfied. He opened and closed his mouth and she shook her head at him. “Yeah, it turns out the makers of a binding, magical contract were not keen on the idea of it being broken. So they put in a little something to make the first one to call it quits hurt. Who knew?” Her tone became more and more biting as she kept talking.

His face had gone pale and his eyes had a shuttered look to them now. He looked lost, and if she had been in a more forgiving mood she could have just walked away then, but she wasn’t.

“You know I felt bad for you at first,” she started, angry at herself that more tears had started. “Harry Potter didn’t grow up in our world. He doesn’t know that these marriage contracts used to be made or that they could still be effective. I mean it was a real surprise to Daph and I, but at least it wasn’t a completely foreign concept to us! And he nearly died defeating one of the most infamous dark wizards in history! How is this fair?!”

He swallowed and said, “Astoria-“

“No, I am talking,” she interrupted, standing up straighter. “But then my sister was the only one who got punished for backing out of a marriage neither of you wanted. And that sympathy stopped really fast.” She shook her head. “Then father, the sore loser he is, kicked her out. Because father has never seen a wound, he didn’t want to pour salt into.”

He had no idea what it had felt like to watch her strong, big sister sobbing her eyes out after not being able to cast a levitation charm so simple any first year could do it after their first two months at Hogwarts. How she’d been shaking as Astoria held her until she finally stopped. How that had been the last time Astoria had seen Daphne until Draco snuck her into Hogsmeade for the first time.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, and it took a lot of restraint on her part not to immediately snap back that she was too. “I didn’t mean...I didn’t know...there must be something I can do.” He wanted to do something to help. Should that have made her happy?

Because it just made her angrier.

“Why do you care?” she hissed. “You certainly never cared enough to ever ask about her in five years.” She was tempted to slap him now, but it just wasn’t worth it. “No, just leave her alone and let the people who actually care about her do their job.”

Astoria didn’t wait for him to respond before she started walking away from him. Instead of going back to the party, she headed to a secluded corner to get herself together. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the castle wall and breathed in and out slowly. She shouldn’t have let him get to her the way he had, she could see that more as she calmed down. And she was going to have to tell Daphne, who’d just wanted a clear break from Potter after everything. Damn it all.

She was vaguely aware of the sound of familiar footsteps behind her, but was still momentarily surprised as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. The scent of woods and spices calmed her and she leaned back into her husband’s comforting embrace. “There you are, Asta,” Draco said. “What’s wrong?”

“I ran into Potter,” she said quietly. “I lost my temper and said some things I shouldn’t have about Daph. It was stupid of me.”

Draco kissed the top of her head. “You are talking to the man who practically made hating Potter his full time job for six years. I guarantee that it wasn’t even a fraction as stupid as some of the fights I picked with him. And you have a good excuse.” She turned around to face him, wrapping her own arms around him.

“She’s going to be mad,” she sighed.

“Probably,” agreed Draco. “But she’ll get over it. She never stays angry at you long.” He rubbed her back gently before saying, “Better you snapping then say Pansy anyway. I owe Theo a few sickles now though.”

Astoria blinked and glanced up at him incredulously. “Wait, you and Theo were betting on whether Pansy or I would tell Potter?”

“And Blaise. We thought for sure it’d be Pansy, but Theo put his money on you.” Astoria continued staring at him, and his mouth finally curved into a smirk. “No, of course not. You should see your face right now!”

Astoria lightly slapped his arm. “You are such an arsehole sometimes.”

“Ouch,” he said, sarcastically. “But I am the arsehole you married. And I did take your mind off worrying about your conversation with Daphne for a few seconds at least.”

Astoria let out another breath. “Right. There’s no point in putting it off, I suppose. Is it alright with you if we leave now?”

“I’m ready when you are,” he smiled, but it looked a bit thin. Draco wouldn’t have come at all today if she hadn’t wanted to, out of respect for the survivors and the dead and their loved ones. It was the same reason Theo and Pansy had stayed far away from Hogwarts today. (Theo because of his father and Pansy for the obvious reason.)

Her face softened and she leaned up to brush her lips against his. “Thank you for coming today.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I’d follow you anywhere.” He stepped back and offered her his arm, and she linked hers through his. “Now, let’s go break the news to your sister.” Astoria grimaced as they started walking towards the designated apparition point that had been allowed for today.

“Maybe we should stop by a bakery first. Daph can’t be that upset if I get her that chocolate cheesecake she likes.” At least Astoria hoped she couldn’t.

* * *

After Astoria had walked away from him, Harry himself started walking towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, his mind spinning. He couldn’t go back to the party when he was feeling this raw; he wouldn’t be able to hold it together and he needed to get a handle on himself first before he could deal with anyone else. He stopped just at the edge of the forest, but wasn’t able to keep still; he started back and forth on the boundary between the school grounds and the forest.

He could hear the echoes of people talking as well as the sounds of unseen creatures but they were nothing more than white noise to him. _“What did you think my sister had to do to break the contract?”_ That was the thing wasn’t it, he’d never really thought about it. He’d been grateful that she’d found a way to break the contract, but he hadn’t thought of what consequences she might have to face, even though he knew her father was an arsehole and that these contracts could be dangerous. The Goblet of Fire, The Weasleys’ and Neville’s reactions, Mr. Weasley trying to find someone who really knew the subject to him, and even Ginny had told them there were horror stories about them. But he had let himself relax when Daphne had said it wasn’t the type of contract that would kill one of them if broken, unlike the two other binding magical agreements he knew of. He thought death was the worst thing a contract like this could do and he’d never heard of binding someone’s magic as a thing that could happen.

What he had just assumed afterwards was that she had found some sort of loophole that would let them both walk away unscathed, like he’d said during their meeting. She’d written to him afterwards after all and he figured if there was some issue she’d have mentioned it either then or when he wrote back. Or that her father would have rubbed it in his face in his message canceling the wedding. 

He had thought she was fine. 

He had just wanted to think she was fine. 

Fuck, he’d been so burned out by that point. He’d spent a year trying to find and destroy Horcruxes so he could kill Voldemort and end a war: a frustrating, horrifying year of trying not to dwell on the friends he left behind and what horrible things could happen to them, all the while he, Ron and Hermione did their best not to lose their collective shite (and definitely not always succeeding) long enough to make things right. And then he died, even if it was temporary. Even before then, there had been the six years before where he was facing down one life-threatening thing after another. And all of that was on top of the first eleven years of neglect and abuse he’d gone through in his aunt and uncle’s home. He’d lost his parents, his godfather, and friends before all was said and done.

He’d been done with having to make the best out of whatever shite the world kept throwing at him and had just wanted to be free for once. And Daphne Greengrass had been an obstacle to get around, instead of a person. Another rich, arrogant, pureblood Slytherin.

And yet, she’d let him walk away at the cost of never using her magic again.

Why? Just because of how against marrying her he’d been? Or did she have other reasons? Did the why really matter when he’d gone on his merry way and she’d lost a huge part of herself? Why hadn’t she told him before doing something that drastic? Then again, why hadn’t he asked her what she’d had to do or check in to see if she was actually alright? What would he have done if she’d had told him or if he’d tried to power through reading a contract that might as well have been written in some alternate form of English for all he understood of it? Fuck, he could just go around in circles like this.

He had to talk to her, find out everything he could, and see if there was anything he could do to help fix this mess he’d contributed to. He couldn’t ignore the problem now that he’d found out about it. Part of him just wanted to rush off now, find her and confront her. It’s what he would have done five years ago, but he wasn’t a teenager anymore. He was an Auror and had patience drilled into him from training and the monotonous stretches of his work. He couldn’t just rush off while he was upset and expect her to deal with him. No, he had to be calmer when he spoke to her.

What was he even going to say; for that matter, what could he possibly do to make up for this? Was there a way to unseal her magic? If there wasn’t, what else could he do? He was going to have to get the contract from his vault; he’d never looked at it again after tossing it in and he felt another wave of guilt crash over him.

No, he was getting lost in his own head again. He needed to talk to someone about this. Ron and Hermione should still be here, but he’d have to be discreet about getting their attention. He didn’t want to let on to everyone else there that something was wrong, especially reporters like Rita Skeeter who were here as well. But what was it going to matter? He was going to have to ask them to leave with him in order to completely guarantee privacy for their conversation.

His stomach churned at the idea of telling them how badly he’d mishandled the situation with the contract five years ago, but they were his closest friends and they’d help even while pointing out everything he’d done wrong at the same time. He felt bad at pulling them away from the reunion, and getting to hang out with people they hadn’t seen in a while, though just so he could dump his problems all over them. Maybe he should just give them today and talk about it with them tomorrow? That would also give him time to figure out how to tell them clearly about what he’d find out.

Alright, that’s what he would do, ask them to come to his home tomorrow. Still, he couldn’t stand the idea of staying here any longer, but he also couldn’t stand the idea of being on his own right now. Almost everyone he knew was here, well almost everyone. That thought had barely crossed his mind before he was casting his patronus.

“I need you to go to Andromeda,” he’d told the spectral stag, who’d stared at him with calm eyes. “Ask her if I can come over. I have to talk to her about something.” The stag dipped his head in acknowledgment before galloping off.

He hadn’t been waiting long before a silvery swan touched down in front of him and spoke in Andy’s voice: “Of course. You’re always welcome.” The swan dissolved in front of his eyes and glanced back at the party. He had to go and make up some excuse so people wouldn’t start fussing over his sudden disappearance (Mrs. Weasley) or start gossiping. (Did anyone see him walking away with Astoria? Because getting tomorrow’s paper delivered with some article insinuating he was having an affair with the new Mrs. Malfoy was all he needed. As if his almost sister-in-law didn’t dislike him enough already.)

* * *

“Uncle Harry!” shouted an overly excited Teddy. That was all the warning he got before a laughing blur launched itself at him. Even at a time like this, his godson could make him smile. He scooped the boy up, pretending to groan over Teddy being heavy, which made the boy laugh again. Teddy’s hair had been a purple a second ago, but had turned jet black and his eyes had turned green, giving him the slightly uncomfortable sensation that he was holding a clone of himself at that age.

“Teddy, you can’t rush at Harry like that every time,” chided Andromeda gently. Both Harry and Teddy protested at that and she shook her head, but there was a faint smile playing on her lips. “I’ll go make some tea.”

“I got new action figures! Do you want to see them?”

“Maybe later, Teddy, I have to talk to your gran right now.” His godson’s mouth turned down into a pout but Harry tickled his sides and soon he was giggling again. He set him down again and Teddy ran off to play in the living room, leaving him free to join Andromeda in the kitchen. “Thanks for letting me come over on such short notice.”

Andromeda had been directing two teacups to float over to the table and frowned at him. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re welcome here at any time?”

“At least one more,” he replied, smiling at the annoyed look she’d shot him. His humor was short lived however as he recalled the reason he was here. “Andy, I need your help. I screwed up badly.”

Her face softened and she gave him a pat on the arm. “Tell me everything,” she said as they both took a seat with the table.

Harry started talking about the marriage contract itself, how he found out about it, how determined he’d been to fight it. Andromeda’s brow furrowed the more he spoke and, when he finally paused, she commented, “You said this was five years ago. Why am I just hearing about this now?”

“I didn’t want to bother you back then,” he said, with a wince. She’d lost her husband, her daughter and her son-in-law in quick succession, but had still been focused on being a good guardian for her grandson despite her own grief. He also hadn’t known her that well yet and hadn’t been about to pour his heart out to a near stranger.

She huffed, “I still think you could have mentioned it at some point over the last five years. ‘Hey Andy, did I ever tell you about the time I was nearly coerced into marrying someone?’”

“I don’t sound like that,” he protested, but she ignored him.

“So what happened? How did you get out of it, or have I somehow missed the presence of a wife this entire time?” He stared down at the table top guiltily, and felt rather than saw her expression soften. “This type of marriage contract was before my time, but I’m familiar with them. They aren’t easy things to break.”

He flinched and admitted, “Daphne broke it. She sealed her magic and got kicked out. I only found that out now from her sister.” Slowly, he explained how he saw her first at the muggle bar and then how his encounter with Astoria had gone.

There was a long silence after that and Harry found he couldn’t meet her eyes. “I respect what she did,” she said, finally. He looked up but Andromeda wasn’t so much looking at him as she was through him. She looked a million miles away for a moment. “It’s not easy to walk away, no matter how dysfunctional families like ours can be. I should know. Except when I left, I still had my magic and Ted.” Her expression became clearer and she said, “You need to do something for this girl.”

He nodded.

“You should also be prepared for her to not want your help. If this were me, I’d probably be at least a little bitter about how things ended up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One change to how this chapter was planned out was that none of it was supposed to be from Astoria’s POV, but it kind of turned into that. Originally, it was going to be Daphne briefly and then mostly Harry, but this way I think gives a better look at Astoria’s anger with him. 
> 
> It was intentional that she refers to their mother as maman, but Daphne always refers to her as mother. Agamemnon is father to both of them though. Also, Asta is just Draco’s nickname for Astoria, because I wanted him to use something different than Tori. And speaking of Draco I couldn’t decide if the betting pool with Theo and Blaise was a complete joke, or if they actually had one and he is pretending it’s a joke because Astoria was annoyed. 
> 
> Another change was that Andromeda is appearing earlier than originally planned, but I thought it felt more appropriate here. I am excited to have her and Daphne meet eventually, and I am now very tempted for her to meet Astoria too. If just for the compare/contrast with her and Narcissa’s relationship with Daphne and Astoria’s.
> 
> There wasn’t a date separating the last two sections because it’s all on the same day.


	3. That Could Have Gone Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Maybe this is why Slytherins shouldn't try and be noble. We're just not good at it."
> 
> Harry and Daphne were meant to be married due to a contract; she let him go and dealt with the consequences on her own. Five years later, he learned what those consequences were and is determined to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter. All characters belong to JK Rowling. The title of the fic is from "Exile" by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver.

**13th May, 1998:**

Daphne landed quietly on a more secluded part of the grounds, took the broom in hand, and went to sit under a tree. The sun was just starting to come up; she’d been out flying for the better part of two hours. After all this was going to be the last time she was going to be able to fly a broomstick under her own power, so she’d been determined to enjoy it. It beat staying inside on her last morning here; father was furious with her, mother could barely look at her, and Astoria was taking her decision hard. Even Hades, her owl, had bitten her finger when she’d gone to feed him.

“I’d take you with me if I could,” she hissed as she drew back her hand. He’d given her a haughty look before turning his back on her. “You’ll be better off with Tori. I don’t know how I’m going to take care of myself, let alone you.” He continued to ignore her and so she’d given up.

Pansy had ignored her when Daphne had tried to fire call her after she stormed away so Daphne had given up. She wasn’t ready to talk to any of her other friends either, knowing they were all going to react similarly. Honestly, she was starting to get frustrated by everyone and everything right now.

They were all acting as if this was an easy decision for her when, even now, she felt as if she was just barely pushing off a rising panic. “I don’t want to do this,” she breathed out, closing her eyes. Magic had always been a part of her life and there was still so much she wanted to learn or do with it...she didn’t want to give it up.

But what choice did she have?

Potter was absolutely against marrying her and she didn’t want to make him, no matter what her father thought about it. Even if it wasn’t a horrible thing to do, it was only going to make him hate her and being stuck in a marriage to someone who despised her sounded hellish. But did it have to be her? She’d tried to approach him to negotiate, but he’d shot her down flat. If he hated the idea so much, shouldn’t he be the one who had to sacrifice his magic?

_I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ve sacrificed enough since learning I was a wizard. I fought Voldemort._

Daphne held her face in her hands and took a long, deep breath. She had been selfish for a very long time; she’d cared primarily about herself and her sister while at Hogwarts, had ignored how her friends had treated others outside of their house, and thought it was fine because she’d stayed to herself rather than actively go after other students (not counting cases of provocation). She had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts but that was going to be too little too late for most people. Whereas, he fought and won against You-Know-Who. Shite, even she’d know who’d she sympathize with more.

And she’d given him her word that she wasn’t going to force this on him.

“I have to do this,” she sighed before walking back to the house. Father was awake by the time she walked through the door and she met him in the dining room. “I’m breaking the contract tonight,” she announced without giving him a chance to answer.

It had to be today; if she waited much longer, she wasn’t sure if she’d still be able to go through with it.

* * *

**3rd May, 2003:**

Harry was a ball of tense energy as he waited for Ron and Hermione to arrive. He’d barely slept the previous night, his mind churning over everything he learned and possible things he could do about it, but he didn’t feel tired. He’d taken a walk that morning after breakfast but that hadn’t burned any of that energy off; once he’d gotten back to his flat, he’d tried to just turn the television on and shut his brain off but that failed miserably.

He’d been desperate enough to even try and start writing a list. Hermione had tried to tell him more than once that creating a list was a good way to make yourself focus, but it wasn’t working that well. He only came up with two things so far: 1) Get the contract from his vault at Gringotts and 2) find an expert in magical contracts to help unravel it. Thankfully, Ron and Hermione were at the door before he could drive himself up the wall.

He got up as soon as he heard their voices from outside his flat and rushed to open the door:

“Come on Hermione, who’s the mystery wizard,” Ron cut himself off as Harry yanked the door open. With a grin, he said to Harry, “Hey mate, did you know Hermione was seeing someone? I had to find out from Pavarti last night.” He and Hermione had lasted about a year less than Harry and Ginny had, but similarly they’d decided they were better off as friends and had broken up amicably.

“I...what?” Asked Harry, thrown off for a moment.

“I am not seeing anyone, Ronald,” said Hermione as Harry let them inside. “I may have been on a date or two with a wizard who shall remain nameless, but neither of you will find out until I’m sure if it will be serious or not.” She then turned to Harry and said, “But I don’t think Harry invited us over to grill me about my love life.”

Ron snorted. “I’m not grilling you. I’m taking a friendly interest.” Ignoring Hermione’s eye roll, he walked to the living room and dropped down on Harry’s couch. “But you’re right. So what’s up, Harry? You took off much earlier yesterday than we’d thought you would.”

Hermione sat beside Ron on the couch so Harry sat in his armchair, though he sat on the edge. “Do you both remember five years ago when I found out about that marriage contract with Greengrass?”

“Vividly,” said Hermione, exchanging confused frowns with Ron. “I still can’t believe that you were nearly forced into marrying a complete stranger because of some archaic-“

“That’s a yes, mate,” said Ron, cutting across Hermione. She huffed at him but he nudged her arm playfully as he continued speaking, “Why are you bringing this up now? Wait, is that why Draco’s wife was mad at you? Isn’t Greengrass her sister?”

“Ridiculous,” Hermione said, shaking her head. “Why would she be mad at him about that? It’s not like he stood Daphne up at the altar for heaven’s sake.”

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Actually, the contract is the reason she’s not my biggest fan.” Merlin, that felt like such an understatement. Hermione’s brow furrowed at that, and he looked down before continuing. “The reason she’s mad is a bit more complex than just me not marrying her sister. I didn’t learn this until yesterday, but the marriage contract was more unforgiving than I’d thought.”

“What does that mean?” A note of anxiety had crept into Hermione’s voice, though he had no idea what possibilities she was thinking of.

He took a breath before deciding to just rip off the proverbial band-aid. “Daphne’s magic was apparently sealed inside her after she broke it.”

He could have heard a pin drop in the sudden silence. Glancing up, he saw that Hermione’s eyes had widened and she had a hand covering her mouth. Ron had gone a bit pale under his freckles and his jaw had dropped open. It would have been funny, if things hadn’t been so serious. He didn’t blame them for being at a loss for words; Harry didn’t completely give up all muggle things (hence the television) but he couldn’t imagine just giving up the ability to do magic and living life fully as a muggle.

“Oh my god,” Hermione finally said, slowly pulling her hand away from her mouth. “You’re absolutely sure?”

“You didn’t see Astoria when she told me. I don’t think she was lying and there was something else.” Harry raked a hand through his hair, making it more untidy than it already was. “I ran into Daphne Greengrass the other day and saw her working at a muggle bar. I don’t know why she’d be doing that if what Astoria said isn’t true.”

“She’s been living without magic for five years?” The shocked expression hadn’t left Hermione’s face as she leaned back onto the couch. “I couldn’t...I grew up in a muggle home and even I can’t imagine just giving that up.” Like Harry himself, her own flat was partly muggle as well.

“What the fuck,” Ron finally said. It was a sign of how thrown Hermione was by this situation that she didn’t say anything about his swearing. He was still pale as he leaned forward and looked at Harry seriously. “Mate, I love you like a brother, but if Ginny had been in Greengrass’ place...I’d have broken your nose. No offense.”

“None taken?”

“Okay, this is horrible. And I would like it noted that I told you to read the whole thing five years ago,” Hermione bluntly stated, narrowing her eyes. Harry’s jaw clenched, but he couldn’t exactly argue that: she had wanted him to keep forcing himself to read the marriage contract as she was searching for books on the subject. “However, the question is what do you want to do now, Harry?”

“Is there any way to unseal her magic?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione admitted softly. “I’ve seen references to this kind of consequence but it was far from common even centuries ago. Dying as a consequence of breaking a magical contract: much more common.”

Harry furrowed his brow. “Why is that anyway?”

“Because no one wants to give up their magic,” interrupted Ron. “Most witches and wizards, no matter what their blood status is, would rather die. Blimey, whoever drafted that contract was a real piece of work.”

Harry didn’t know whether that had been written into the contract by Daphne’s great-grandfather or his; he wanted to think it had been Daphne’s but even if it was, he still had to deal with the fact that his great-grandfather would have had to agreed to that being part of the contract. Being related to him didn’t mean that everyone in his family had been a decent person.

Hermione chewed her lip. “You can’t actually remove the magic from someone. It’s why that lie about muggleborns stealing magic was so ridiculous. So she must still have it, even if she can’t use it. It’s possible it could be reversed, but...I don’t know if it could be successfully. We’d have to look at the contract.”

Harry nodded. “I’m getting it out of my vault. I can show you a copy.”

“Sure. It’d be best to get a lawyer, or someone who studied these types of contracts.” She shook her head. “I hate that they’re still in effect even after being made illegal. They should have all been kept forgotten.” She stilled for a moment and frowned in thought. She said, almost under her breath, “I guess this is why he…” She trailed off as she noticed the confusion on his face and shook her head. “Nothing. I was just thinking of something else.”

Ron looked between them and said, “You’re sure you want to tug on this thread mate? You didn’t make the contract, you didn’t want her to have her magic sealed, and she kind of had to accept it for it to have worked.”

Harry blinked. “You just said you would have broken my nose if I let this happen to Ginny.”

“I know what I said,” Ron grumbled, his ears turning red. He continued, in a rather half-hearted voice, “But I’m also your best mate and I have to watch your back. You didn’t know anything about marriage contracts, so it wasn’t really-“

“You’re right and I still don’t know much about marriage contracts. But I could have learned. Your dad was trying to find someone to help me, so I definitely could have learned if I gave it enough time. I also could have checked up on her after she owled me. Except I didn’t do any of that.” He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “To tell you the truth, I was so burned out right after the war. I was sick of fighting, sick of dealing with screwed up things about the wizarding world, and so I just kind of took it at face value when I was told the marriage was off.”

“Some people would say you deserved someone taking the fall like that for you after everything,” Ron said hesitantly, ignoring Hermione’s glare.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and asked, “Would you be comfortable with letting someone make that kind of a sacrifice for you?”

“No,” Ron admitted. He rubbed his face and said, “I’m with you, Harry. No matter what. Alright, so we’re going to try and help Greengrass. Er, should Greengrass be here for this sort of conversation?”

Harry winced. “I’m going to see if I can talk to her tonight.” He wasn’t looking forward to it, but he wasn’t one to back down from a problem.

* * *

**3rd-4th May, 2003:**

The only night of the week he was certain she worked on was Friday, but, given that she was a bartender, he thought the odds were good that she could be working on the weekends. He went back to the bar and smiled grimly when he saw her behind the bar. Alright, so one thing had gone right today.

The bar was packed and he pushed himself through the crowd to get to the front. Normally, he hated coming to bars when they were this crowded, but he was on a mission. She and another bartender -some athletic looking bloke around their age- were working and he hung back to wait. Greengrass was mixing drinks and chatting with a group of blokes she was waiting on; she was smiling and her posture was more relaxed than he’d remembered it being when they were at school, but he figured the friendliness was a necessary part of the job.

The other bartender was descended on by a group of three and Greengrass had finished with her customers. She glanced up and her smile faltered when she noticed him standing in front of her. “Potter. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

He shrugged. “I ran into your sister yesterday.” Her mouth tightened, but there was no sign of surprise on her face. Astoria must have told her then. “I need to talk to you.”

“I’m working, Potter. Speaking of which, are you going to order something?” Her tone was light, almost teasing but her eyes were hard.

His eyes flicked to the shelves of bottles behind her and said, “A Guinness is fine,” he replied distractedly. She turned to get his drink and he continued quietly, “Look I can come back another night, but I do need to talk to you and I think you know why.”

“I’m working until 3 am. If you want to wait, be my guest,” she said as she placed a glass in front of him.

“Thank you,” he said as he paid her.

He stood in a corner, nursing his drink for an hour, before getting sick of the crowd and going back outside. He spent the next few hours walking around the city, before returning to the bar to wait outside for her. It was closer to 4 AM once the bar had closed and the staff started leaving. Daphne blinked when she saw him, and the other bartender nudged her with his shoulder. Harry was close enough to see the suspicious look the bloke was shooting at him but Daphne just shook her head and said something to him quietly. Still he shot Harry another look before walking away, while Daphne headed in his direction.

“Come on. If you want to talk, there’s a diner nearby still open.” She walked past him without another look and he rolled his eyes before following her. The restaurant she lead him to was some hole in the wall place but otherwise looked pleasant enough, if practically empty given how early in the morning it was.

They got a booth and ordered coffees (for both of them) and scrambled eggs (for Daphne). He arched an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes at him. “I worked for ten hours straight, give me a break.”

He waited until they got their coffees and her food before getting to the reason he’d tracked her down. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking, before he slipped his wand out underneath the table and whispered, “Muffliato.” Now, they could talk without any of the muggles overhearing.

Greengrass beat him to the punch by saying: “I know Astoria told you.” The irritation in her voice was unmistakable.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me yourself? I would’ve-“

“I rather thought the point of breaking a marriage contract was we wouldn’t have to interact with each other ever again. Something you were very happy with at the time if I remember right.”

His fingers curled around his cup of coffee but he didn’t start drinking yet. “Why did you do it?”

She stared at him. ‘Are you kidding? I told you I wasn’t going to force you to marry me. This was the only way out I saw, so I took it.” She frowned at his continued silence. “Is that not good enough?”

“You said you weren’t expecting to marry for love. What was the big deal?”

“Not marrying for love is one thing. Marrying someone who would be actively hating my guts is another. I had a front row seat for the shit show that was my parents' marriage and was not interested in possibly recreating it. And for the third time: I’m also not the type to force myself on a bloke who doesn’t want me.” He furrowed his brow and her frown deepened. “Why is it so hard to believe me when I say I didn’t want to blackmail you into marrying me?”

“Because this wasn’t some small thing and you know it. Why didn’t you tell me before you did anything?” he asked. “If you’d told me-“

“What would you have done? Married me like the big hero you are,” she drawled. “Or would you have sealed your own magic to spite my father and the contract? You know what; I’m genuinely curious.” Her eyes had turned stormy. “Father thought you’d come crawling back with your tail between your legs.”

His grip on the mug tightened and her lips formed a cruel smirk. “Personally, I thought you were pissed off enough to do the most self-destructive thing possible. So I beat you to it. You’re welcome by the way,” she finished sarcastically.

Patience, he needed to be patient. It was easier said than done as he could feel his temper rising as she baited him. The ‘you’re welcome’ ended up being something of a last straw. “I didn’t ask you to do this,” he hissed. She narrowed her eyes at him but he plowed on before she could speak, “You should have told me! I was the one who was insisting on breaking it, so it should have been my choice if I wanted to give up my magic or go along with it! You had no right to hide that from me and-“

“Oh so I could be the selfish bitch who forced the bloody Boy Who Lived to break up with the girl he actually loved to marry her, or caused him to lose his magic?!” She glared at him from across the table. “Wow, that would have gone so well for me once the news about the contract came out! And don’t try and tell me it wouldn’t have; any reporter would have gone digging if either of those things had happened.”

She crossed her arms and leaned back. “No, I’d just have ended up making the same choice in the end! There was no winning for me, I just took the least bad option I could have.” Despite her words, her eyes looked incredibly pained by the end of her rant. No, he wasn’t convinced that she saw what happened to her as the lesser evil.

“You still should have told me,” he argued. “If not then, but after. I had no idea you took the brunt of it.”

“You could have read the contract yourself, no one was stopping you.” He opened his mouth to say something but she shook her head at him. “What does any of this even matter now? It’s over and done with.”

“I don’t like that you had to sacrifice your magic. I want to help-“

Her eyes flashed. “I don’t need your pity.”

He ground his teeth. “It’s not pity. It’s me trying to make things right. We can start by looking to see if we can unseal your magic and-“

Her response was almost instantaneous. There was a look of so much longing in her eyes for a moment that he found himself unable to speak. Then after a moment, it was like a shutter fell over her face and she stared at him coldly. “That has never been done before. Don’t...just stop it.” She tossed some money on the table before standing up. “Do us both a favor and just forget you ever saw me. Goodbye Potter.”

Harry wanted to say a lot of things right then, but decided the better course of action was to let her go for now. He stayed in the booth and watched to make sure she got a cab and then left himself for his own home.

That didn’t mean he was going to give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we finally got a little of Daphne's POV. I wanted to show this was not an easy decision for her to make, that she had doubts, but she still went through with it.
> 
> Ron's part of the scene with the trio was something I thought hard about. I'm not trying to bash him or make him seem like he's flip-flopping but he's a very loyal friend who doesn't want one of his best friends to get in over their heads trying to fix something that wizarding society is ultimately at fault for. He doesn't like what happened to Daphne and outright said he wouldn't be okay with someone making that kind of sacrifice for him. He was only arguing half-heartedly and only making the argument because it's Harry.
> 
> And as people have thought, the first attempt at talking to Daphne about this did not end well.

**Author's Note:**

> This story basically came from reading marriage law/marriage contract stories where the consequence to breaking it was the person losing their magic and then thinking, 'Holy shit, what if one of them actually went through with that.' And this happened. One point: describing Daphne's magic as being 'sealed' instead of 'lost' or 'gone' is a purposeful choice.
> 
> I finally named my version of Mr. Greengrass and I named him after a guy I didn't like from Greek mythology; thanks brain, that wasn't too on the nose or anything. Her mother, who has not appeared, is named Yvette which will be mentioned later.
> 
> This is the meanest Astoria I've ever written, but I will say that Harry is the only character who really brings this side out of her in this story. She's in what I am going to call angry little sister mode right now. Her anger towards him is meant to be understandable if not totally fair, and I can say she will warm up as the story goes on. My favorite part was her being super petty by picking at his grammar, and Harry referring to her as a brat as a result.


End file.
